Digital broadcast satellite (DBS) services are among the most popular consumer audio/video services to ever enter the market. Many thousands of consumers have purchased DBS systems to receive DBS delivered programming. According to industry statistics, DBS systems are among the fastest growing consumer electronic product categories.
DBS programming is delivered via satellite. Generally, the programming is transmitted from a central ground station to a satellite orbiting 22,300 miles above the equator where it is processed and broadcast back to Earth in a very broad RF signal. Because the signal beamed down to the Earth is so widely dispersed, the signal is available across a very large geographic area, such as for example, residences from Seattle, Washington, to Key West, Florida. The broadcast DBS signal is received via a DBS antenna unit, essentially an 18-inch satellite reception dish. The received signals are subsequently coupled to a DBS receiver. The DBS receiver decompresses and translates the digital DBS signal into analog television signal for display on a user's television.
Prior art FIG. 1 shows a diagram depicting the operation of a typical DBS system 100. System 100 includes a broadcast center 110 which functions by gathering programming content (e.g., movies, sporting events, commercials, etc.), digitizing encrypting, and uplinking the content to a DBS satellite 101 in geosynchronous orbit via a 17 GHz uplink signal 115. The DBS satellite 101 immediately retransmits the signal back down to every earth-station, or in other words, every DBS antenna unit 103 at every subscribers' homes/businesses, via a 12 GHz downlink signal 102. A low noise down converter (LNB) 104 is coupled to the antenna unit 103 for down converting the received 12 GHz downlink signal 102 into an IF (intermediate frequency) signal suitable for processing by receiver 106. The IF signal is coupled to receiver 106 via a coaxial cable 105. Receiver 106 functions by separating each digital channel in the IF signal, and decompressing and translating the channels so television 107 can show the programming to a user. Upstream communication is provided via a telephone line 108 coupled from receiver 106 back to the broadcast center 110.
There exists a problem with system 100, however, in that the format of the IF signal provided by LNB 104 to receiver 106 via cable 105 is often in different formats. Subscriber equipment (e.g., antenna unit 103, LNB 104, receiver 106, etc.) typically varies among the large number of users. Different components 103-106 are often provided by different manufacturers. Due to the nature of downlink signal 102, subscriber equipment is typically configured to use either left-hand circular or right-hand circular polarization of the IF signal 105 (or, vertical and horizontal polarization). These types of polarization are in the same frequency band. Hence, older types of subscriber equipment require the use of two cables coupling LNB 104 to receiver 106 to separately conduct left-hand circular and right-hand circular polarized signals respectively. Newer types of subscriber equipment are able to convert one type of signal (e.g., left-hand circular polarized) to a higher frequency band with respect to the other type of signal (e.g., right-hand circular polarized) so that only one cable (e.g., cable 105) is required to couple LNB 104 to receiver 106. The types of subscriber equipment are not readily combined by a user.
Thus, even a prior art subscriber equipment setup capable of functioning in both a "multi-dwelling" manner (e.g., left-hand and right-hand circular polarization in a single cable) and a "normal" manner (e.g., left-hand and right-hand circular polarization in separate cables) requires manual configuration and initialization by the user. Unfortunately, this most often involves the user reading a manual to best understand how to set the subscriber equipment up such that it functions correctly. Manual configuration is error prone and inconvenient. If successful (e.g., the user turns, pushes, and otherwise manipulates the appropriate dials, switches, and/or jumpers on LNB 104 and receiver 106), system 100 functions as desired. However, if the configuration is incorrect, receiver 106 will not work and the user will be frustrated.